The Way he Looks Like When he Sleeps
by the mizter
Summary: Claire thought she had nothing to look forward to in her time at Monsters University. Little did she know that in there she would find one big, purple-feathered reason to never forget it.
1. First Impressions

Author's note:

So I failed my word and did not finish the last fic I was working on. It's still somewhere on my "gonna finish someday" pile, but I with the time I have, I don't think I'll get back into it anytime into it.

So why am I writing a new fic instead? Well, because I just watched Monsters University, loved it and, for the first time in a long time, let out my inner shipping fanboy all over two of its characters: Claire Wheeler and Brock Pearson. And I just couldn't resist myself.

And thus, it turned into this. Originally a one-shot, I believe it's gonna be a multi-chapter which I truly hope to finish now during my summer break.

Feedback is appreciate and HIGHLY encouraged, so please, if you're able to give me some useful critique, I'll be highly thankful.

Without further ado, hope you enjoy it.

**Monsters University and all of its characters are property of Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.**

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

**The way he looks like when he sleeps**

**1.- First impressions**

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

She tried her best not to be irritated, but being forced to wake up at five in the morning to take a bus was far from Claire's idea to start her first day at college. She avoided thinking about the reasons why she had to. It'd have been unfair to start misplacing her anger at her family, as irritating as they were sometimes. With little to do in an empty bus, though, with only her baggage, a boring-looking driver sitting under a "do not talk to the driver" sign and no one awake to text on the phone there wasn't much else she could do. Maybe she could try and get what little sleep she could get during the ride.

She sighed in annoyance. The last thing a girl like her liked was losing sleep for nothing. She closed her eyes and tried to lay the best she could in one not-so-comfortable seat of the bottom back seat of the bus.

Just a few minutes after she had finally succumbed to slumber she awoke harshly by the bothersome sound of a loud pencil scratch.

With a heavy frown on her face, she slowly opened her third from the left eye to peek at the source of the noise. Just one seat away from her, in the same bottom row, she saw the large figure of a purple-feathered monster, whose large body was covered only by a gray sweater, who likely hopped in the stop right after hers. She couldn't identify his full features yet, but she could identify in his hands a notepad being written over, energetically, by his short and nearly worn-out pencil.

_Ugh, he couldn't pick a better spot to sit and write than here, could he?! _She thought to herself. She tried closing her eyes once again and hoped her row mate would stop writing so loudly, but he didn't, and it only got worse when she heard him mumbling things to himself. She opened one of her eyes again. She looked at him with more attention this time and identified on him an old-fashion style dark purple mullet and a pair of thin vertical horns on his head. Most prominent, however, was the gleefully smiling orange serrated beak that he had instead of mouth; second to that, were his equally joyous eyes that looked down at the notepad so wide-open and with no signs of tiredness whatsoever.

She shut her eyes once more and turned her head away from the billed monster, getting even more uncomfortable as she laid on her side. The awful scratching noise of the pencil and his mumbling, that was starting to get louder, just wouldn't stop. She gritted her teeth as the noise got even louder.

Minutes continued to pass and her annoying companion continued his energetic ruckus. She grunted in anger. _What is this guy's freakin' problem!?_

She decided she wasn't going to have it. Eyes wide-open in anger, she turned around at the sleep-depraver to yell him to stop.

When the unexpected sight in front her put her in a halt. The beaked monster had fallen asleep.

Instead of finding him fully awake and energetic as he was moments ago, he was entirely asleep, his large body lying awkwardly on his back, eyes completely shut and his notepad and pencil lying dropped in the seat between them. He did not snore, _thank goodness_, but his heavy breathing sounded like a good indicator that he was indeed deep asleep…somehow, after looking very, very far from being so.

Claire stared in puzzlement. How does anyone go from that to this so suddenly was beyond her understanding, _but at least he's finally quiet,_ she thought. She looked in curiosity at this peculiar monster, another freshman at Monsters University, she assumed, judging by the baggage lying on the seat near his window. Her suspicions were confirmed when she looked down at the notepad between them: the whole page was filled by a boldly-written check-lest: _'Wake up early.' _Checked. _'Catch the 6:15 am bus." _Checked. _'Did I meet anyone there?'_, followed by a blank space filled with _'sort of'_. _'Start writing this check-list'_ Checked. _'Arriving at campus.' _Unchecked, obviously. And all following items on the list also remained unchecked and the last one wasn't even complete.

_Some people just don't know where to dump their excitement_. She thought cynically. Truth was told, Claire wasn't excited for university at all. To her, it was going to be just another phase in life like all others, full of annoyances and frustrations filled with a mixed bag of unpleasant surprises and hopefully a few not-so-unpleasant ones. But it's not like she had any desires to not attend college and get some mid-rate job for the rest of her life, especially with a family of professionals putting heavy pressure on her: medics, accountants, monsterologists, choreographers, etc. All they needed now was to have a scarer to be up there in the Wheeler hall of fame and that little task had fallen upon her. Not like she cared, but she just didn't see anything in it to look forward to and just couldn't understand how monsters like the guy beside him could be so extremely eager about it.

Seeing him sleep so deeply like this now was a strange thing to see. The poor guy must have exhausted himself all of a sudden. …_poor guy?_ She questioned her use of the adjective. But she had to admit, looking at him sleep instead of being wide-awake as he was earlier was actually a pleasing sight…mostly thanks to the fact he was no longer making noise. Claire had never seen a monster like him before. Sure, she's told herself the very same thing every time she met a new monster, but this guy here, for some reason, stood out for some reason. _Hmph, maybe it's the beak?_ The serrated, funny-looking break of his, which showed a sleepy smile, that matched with his short and amusing pair of chicken-like legs. She was surprised at his lack of wings, having large arms instead, attached to an also large and well-built torso, like that of an athlete. Then that out-of-fashion mullet he sported and his pair of horns. Of all the weird mixed features she had seen in a monster before, somehow, his looked quite, how would she put it, _interesting?_ And there was something in the way he looked like just now, asleep.

_Hmph, kinda cute, I guess._

She slapped herself hard. _What did I JUST think now?!_ Somehow she wished she could pour bleach inside her brain to wash away that thought. Did she forget how annoying this guy was moments ago?

_Well, to be fair, he didn't mean it._ She rationalized. _…but he still was freaking annoying._

She let out a turned away from the sleepy fellow freshman. _Well, hope I can get some effin' rest now._ She closed her eyes once again and hoped there'd be no disturbances this time.

And then she heard the bus come to a halt. "Monsters University" said the monotone voice of the driver.

Followed instantly by a loud yell of excitement right beside her.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOO!"

Claire's felt her eardrums vibrate in pain, her eyes opening wide and her entire self in shock.

"Awwwright! I finally made it!" She heard another strong pencil scratch. "Check! Now, Monsters University, hope you're ready, because Brock Pearson is here! Woo!" The large monster walked to the door as if somehow his entire energy had been instantly recharged. His loud steps were like a hammer slamming against her cracking wall of tolerance.

Only after he had left the bus did Claire stand up. The sun wasn't even still up yet. She didn't even want to imagine how the rest of her morning would be like. _So much for an effin' good start._

She grabbed her suitcases and headed to the door. Not a few stops from her seat though did she catch from the back of her eye that something was still at the seat row. When she turned back, she found more suitcases. _His_ suitcases.

Claire half-sighed, half-grunted. _Am I reaaally going to do what I think I'm gonna do?_ Of the thousands things that bothered her, seeing dumb monsters leaving their stuff behind was one of the most aggravating. The biggest reason why, however, is that for some reason she always made herself take their stuff back to them.

_Dammit, Claire, when are you going to get rid of your conscience? _She dragged the other, much heavier pair of suitcases with her already busy hands all the way to down from the bus. A headache was starting to grow on her from this entire bothersome ordeal. After getting off the bus, she stopped for a second to catch her breath and then looked up to find the clumsy monster. There was thankfully not a lot of monsters around this hour in the morning, _how I envy every single one of them_, so finding the large, purple-feathered and antlered guy, who was already well past the entrance gate, was no hard task at all.

"HEY!" She yelled out. "HEY YOU…" Now how was she going to grab her attention? "…HEY, YOU BIRDHEAD!"

It worked. The beaked freshman responded to the call and turned around, apparently not minding, or maybe not even noticing, that he had just been called by an insult. "Huh?"

Claire waved her hand to grab his attention and once she knew he was looking at her she pointed down to his suitcases. "Forgot your stuff!"

He chuckled sheepishly at his own mistake and hurried back to the gate to where she waited with his stuff. "Aw man, can't believe I did that again!" He said in a surprisingly jovial manner. "I feel so dumb!"

She rolled her eyes. _You don't say. _

The large freshman grabbed his suitcases. "Thanks a lot! I appreciate it!" And then turned around.

"Whatever." She just said, turning her sight away. She grabbed her stuff and intended to walk off right away to registration.

"Oh, by the way!"

She halted her tracks. She wasn't going to get him off her so easily it seemed. She grunted in desperation before turning back to him. "Yes?" She hadn't fully turned around when she felt the strong grasp of his large hand shaking hers.

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself. I'm Brock Pearson! Always pleased to meet some new fellow freshmen! What's your name?" He stopped his energetic shake for a moment to let her speak. Even though she was clearly upset and growing out of patience, he continued to be incredibly jovial and enthusiastic with her.

She didn't want to look at him. She was in no mood to see anyone right now, let alone this guy, and had absolutely no desire to give him her name. Unfortunately, Claire assumed, he didn't seem to be kind of guy who would leave her be so easily until he got an answer.

She sighed. "Claire." She only gave her name. No more, no less.

"Alright. Nice to meet you, Claire!" He shook hands again intensely. Claire nearly lost her balance from the motion. After that, he finally let go and picked up his suitcases again.

"You have a good one, okay? University is a whole new adventure waiting for us, and it's just beginning!" He turned around and, finally, walked off. "See you around!"

_Thanks for reminding me about that._ She thought sarcastically. Another second of him and she might have lost it for good. Now she just had a whole day to put up with errands, settlement and who knows what else that she didn't want to think of. But thankfully, that Brock guy was off from her at last and hopefully she'd not have to end up seeing him again anytime soon.

Right now all she wanted was getting done with registration. Then she'd head straight to her dorm and plummet down in her bed, hoping that she didn't have to deal with any roommate introductions yet. She was absolutely in no mood for anyone right now. _Great, another monster to deal with._

-x-x-x-x-x-

Once she got through the whole process and got her student ID, she headed straight to her room. Luckily, her roommate was nowhere to be seen, possibly not even there yet. So without disturbance, she dropped her body into her bed and closed her eyes for what she hoped would be a good and long enough rest.

But it just happened that the moment she closed her eyes, the mental image of that purple-feathered monster sleeping next to her in the bus popped up in her mind.

_Oh, crud…why do I get the feeling this is far from over?_

And it definitely was.


	2. Company for a freshman

Author's note:

Chapter 2 was already finished by now and 3 was halfway done. However, I ended up deciding to merge them together, so now you have a much longer chapter 2. So enjoy the longer read!

**-x-x-x-x-x**

**The way he looks like when he sleeps**

**2.- Company for a freshman**

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

The first couple of weeks weren't so terrible, thankfully. But they were as unremarkable as she imagined they'd be. Perhaps the only slightly positive thing that occurred to her was the fact she was being invited to hang around a small group of friendly acquaintances, one of them being her roommate. Not that she loved the idea of hanging out with a group of poshy, overly social girls where she didn't exactly belong to. Nonetheless, they often insisted on her hanging out with them, and it gave her something to do while not studying on her own, since they didn't have a lot of interest in doing group studying at all.

And so it happened that one of them was already getting into something with one of the guys of the football team. She and her small group of companions were invited one day to see them practice, which basically meant that Claire either let herself be dragged into it or go somewhere by herself to study and then have nothing else to do the rest of the evening. Obviously, she opted for the former.

The rest of the girls ogled over at the monsters practicing on the field non-stop, at which Claire couldn't stop mentally gagging at. Handsome scaly chest this, cute slimey tentacles that, strong shiny horns there, _ugh._

Some of the guys playing approached the group of girls at the benches to talk. Claire simply said hello, indifferent as always, and paid little attention to what flirting and crazy giggling the boys and girls respectively told to one another.

"By the way, do you girls know our newest guy? He's only been for a few weeks and he's already making it big in our team." One of them spoke up. "Hey, Brock, come over here!"

Claire's attention was caught up immediately. _Oh, please, tell me it's not…_

And it was. One of the guys in the field approached the benches quickly and removed his helmet to reveal that familiar beaked face Claire had met weeks ago. "Why hello there, ladies!" Brock said jovially, but with the surprising lack of any smugness or flirty intentions of the other jocks.

"Oh, hey!" He turned straight to Claire. "Claire, wasn't it? Woah, how cool to see you again! How's freshman year treating ya?"

She tried to avert his sight. "Hello, and ok, I guess." She replied coldly. Brock just didn't seem to mind that all, still.

She felt a shove on her shoulder. "Ahh, so you know him already, huh, Claire?!" It was one of the girls, obviously implying something further in her words. Claire grunted in annoyance.

"Yup, we met on our first day at campus, actually." Brock answered for her. "Well, be seeing you around girls! Gotta go back to my throws. And seeya, Claire! "Still unphased by Claire's coldness, Brock simply put his helm back on and walked back into the field.

Claire could already feel the glare from her companions. "…you girls are going to tease me about it, aren't ya?"

They giggled and nodded.

She stood up and grabbed her bag. "Then I'll be seeing you girls later." And she simply left.

"Aw, don't get so upset, Clairey! You know it's all in good fun!"

"Ah, let her. She's, like, a goth, remember? I don't think they know what fun means at all." Whoever said that must have thought she was speaking low enough to be heard by her.

But Claire had heard it loud and clear and she was not amused one bit.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Whereas the other girls saw lunch as a time to talk even more beyond the daily quota, Claire simply liked to eat in silence. She found none of that at the cafeteria, especially around her companions, who talked non-stop about things she had no interest in. The only time she seemed to be part of the conversation is when the football team got brought up-which was often-which lead to that purple-feathered monster, _whatever his name was_, which only led to further teasing.

_'She'll feel better about it next time.' _They always said behind her back, like she had some sort of short-term memory loss that made her forget she was pretty much being treated like the group's teasing toy.

"So, are you girls planning on joining a sorority yet?" One of them said.

"Yeah-uh! Every cool girl is in one, right? So we all will have to do it at some point!"

"And get invited to one of those wild frat parties?"

"Ooh, thinking of something inappropriate already, are we?"

And they continued their stupid giggling and chatting about parties, boys, classes-and whining about how tough they were- and sororities.

_It's like I had never left high-school._

She got up with her empty trail and left the table. "Seeya girls later." She almost didn't want to say that. She didn't think anyone was hearing her anyway. They'd surely accuse her later of leaving the table without saying bye. Not like she cared that much anymore.

_'You know, sometimes I wonder why we even let her hang out with us.'_ She heard one of them say once.

Just like them, she often wondered why she even bothered hanging out with them.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Because I'm not interested, Rita." Claire replied to her roommate as she lay down on her bed.

"Come on, Clairey!" The slug-like monster sitting on the other bed insisted, calling her by the name she already asked her not to call her by. "Sororities are, like, your opportunity to actually become someone in campus! I mean, you know, like someone successful!"

"So I'm a failure if I don't join a sorority, is that what you're telling me?"

Her roommate was only paying half-attention to her words while she texted on her phone. "Well, not a failure, but kinda like, not very successful! Know what I mean?"

_Ugh, if she keeps talking like that I'm gonna shove that phone down her throat._

"Besides." Rita spoke up again. "It's a good place to make true friends!"

"Pfft." Claire turned face on the wall. "You mean the 'friends' who dump you because you don't want to join their same-lettered Greek clubhouse? Yeah, right."

There was only two weeks left before the final exams were there. Claire's little group of acquaintances had pretty much left her behind as they all had joined a sorority already while she had not. After all, who wanted to hang out with the cold, boring girl when they could do so with their sorority sisters? Not like she missed them, however. She was used to be all by her own. That's how it was back in high school -and middle school also- and it was going to be no different this time around.

That said, her decision to not join any wasn't being met kindly in her family, all proud Greeks during their college years. They had no intentions to let another Wheeler break the tradition. She knew it was only a matter of time before they'd think about giving her an ultimatum. Until then, Claire was decided to not join a Greeks sisterhood whatsoever.

_'True friends'. Give me a break._

-x-x-x-x-x-

Passed with a decent average. Claire expected no less and no more than that in the end of her first semester. She didn't know whether to be glad…or upset that she'd be back for second semester. So she just shrugged it off. What gives? In the end, she'd just get a title. For what? Just so she can pay the rent and feed herself for the rest of her life. _Such a future._

Back in the same spot she was in her first day, she sat with her arms crossed, expecting a boring ride back home.

_This is just going to be the same old. Same old people, same old crap._ She closed her eyes.

_ Absolutely nothing good waiting for me here at college._

Then, before the bus took off, someone else got in.

She opened her eyes out of curiosity. Unfortunately, who her eyes saw walking up into the bus were amongst the last people in the world she hoped to see.

_Oh, please._ It was Brock.

He walked calmly towards her, same happy expression on his billed face. "Oh, hey, Claire! Didn't see you all semester long!"

"Hi." She said coldly again as he sat one seat from her, just the same as he was at the first day.

"Well, how have you been? Has freshman year been a blast or what?! Hah, it sure was for me! Man, all the people I've met, all the things I did. Can't wait for next semester! Oh, before I forget." He pulled out his check list. "End first semester…check!"

_He still carries that darned thing…_

"Anyway, how about you? Looking forward for second half of freshman year?"

"Eh." That's all she said.

"'Eh'?" There was puzzlement on Brock's face. "What do you mean 'eh'? You do know what's coming next semester?"

"Err…more classes?"

"More than just that! The scare games!" He jumped out of his seat in excitement. "Oh my goodness, the scare games are coming! I've heard of them from my older brother and from my father. They're just the most amazing thing to happen every year in Monsters U! And this year…I'll be in them!"

A sigh. "Scare games, huh? Sounds exciting." She muttered with obvious sarcasm, not even looking at Brock.

"Indeed it is! Are you gonna be in them too?"

"Eh, I don't think so."

Brock went silent for a moment. He turned back at Claire. "Why's that? Aren't you a scaring major?"

"Huh?" She now looked at him. "How did you know I was majoring in scaring?"

"Oh, I think it was your roommate. Rita, wasn't it? Yeah, I think she told me." He said simply.

"Ugh, of course. Rita." She turned away again. _Never keeps her sluggy mouth shut._

"Uh, anyway, so, if you're majoring on scaring, why aren't you gonna compete?"

She really didn't want to keep talking. She hoped she could just keep quiet and maybe he'll actually let her be. She didn't want to talk, like usual.

"Uh, Claire?"

_Why is he still calling me by my name!? _

She got up and eyed him angrily."Why do you keep calling me by my name!?" Her patience clearly worn out. "Stop doing that! I am not your friend, so stop calling me like that!" As she sat back down and turned her eyes outside the window of the bus she did not see as Brock's bright smile faded slowly.

"…and for your information. First: I am not in any sorority, so I can't compete. Second: I do not want to be in a sorority, so I won't compete. Third: I am not even interested competing in those scare games. And fourth: just because I am majoring in scare does NOT mean that I am interested in scaring, let alone that I enjoy it at all!"

Brock sat back down on his seat, quietly. Awkward silence between them.

"…well, um, sorry then. I didn't know." He stared away from her also. All of his energy seemed banished in an instant.

"I just hoped someone else was excited for me, I guess…sorry if I offended ya."

No one said a word for a minute.

Having known nothing of Brock but his seemingly unstoppable enthusiasm, it actually felt strange for Claire to see him so quiet for once - while not asleep, that is. Oddly enough, she'd normally be glad to have some peace and quiet. But, somehow, she wasn't feeling comfortable with it now.

She let out a sigh. "Look…" She broke up the silence. Her words were quieter, less tense. Almost as if she tried not to make them sound harsh. Sympathy, perhaps? "Don't take what I said too personal, ok? I'm not exactly the most cheerful monster in the world. It's nothing against you."

He turned to see her, puzzled by her change in attitude.

"I'm…actually sorry I spoke up like that. Look, it's nice that you're looking forward to the next semester, I guess. It's fine that you actually have something to be excited for and all." Her gaze shifted downward. "I just don't. I don't enjoy college, I don't enjoy scaring. I'm quite decent at it, hence why I passed, but I don't like doing it."

Silence between both.

Then Brock ended it.

"Well…you know I play in the football team, right? I'm very good at it. Everyone admires me as the rookie of the year. I find it flattering, really. But truth is…I don't like playing at all."

Now that was something Claire did not expect to hear, from a jock of all monsters. She looked at him with curiosity. "Uh…why?"

"Well, heh, I don't know either. I guess no longer enjoy throwing around a ball across a field over and charging down at other monsters all the time. I mean, I did use to enjoy it in the past. Now…I feel like I just want to catch a break from it. And my teammates? They're just that. You don't see me hanging out with them a lot. Only for games and practices."

"Then…why don't you just, you know, quit?"

"Because I'm on scholarship…"

"…oh."

"Yeah. Figured I could give my parents some help if I got it by playing for the team. I'm happy for helping them, but deep down, I just wish I didn't have to…so, I think I can kind of understand how you feel."

'Kind of' was the right way to describe it, but Claire had to admit, she felt a small comfort at knowing that there was a monster at campus that got an idea of how she felt. It started to embarrass her at thinking that Brock was just some jock. Perhaps there was more to him than she thought.

Claire thought she had something to tell him that moment, but then she felt as the bus came to a stop and she forgot about it. Looking out, she realized this was her stop.

"Sorry, but this is where I get off." She picked up her stuff and walked towards the door. Suddenly, though, she halted right in the middle row. "Um." She turned at him. "I dunno how to say this, but…I know I've been rude to you the few times I've seen you, so I'm sorry for that. And, uh…have a nice winter break, I guess." And with that she walked off.

She didn't step away far from the bus when she heard Brock's voice calling her out loud.

"Have a very nice winter too, Claire!" He shouted. He sounded like his familiar happier self. When Claire turned around to see him peeking out the window as the bus took off, he saw his face smiling that way she knew him for. "And I'll see you on springtime!"

When the bus was out of sight, Claire let out a little smirk.

"Seeya, Brock."

She knew there was no way he was going to hear her, but she felt it was proper to say that anyway. She felt like talking to him didn't leave a bad taste in her mouth this time.

_Hum…I just said his name._ Even though she has known him for a good while already, this was the first time this name came from her mouth. "Funny how that happened."

She enjoyed the peace of her walk home the best she could…before she had to deal with her family.

-x-x-x-x-x-

_"No Wheeler is going to turn her back on Greek life!" _The commanding words of her mother continued to ring in her head. _"So you're going to join a sorority next semester, or else you can forget about coming back to this house and good luck if you try and find some place to live at and a job to keep it!"_

It was rush week in her second semester, not too long since it began. And there she was, sitting in the grass at the Frat Row, half-looking at the fraternities and sororities looking for new people to join them in. She didn't want to do this. Unfortunately, the only thing that would stop her dull life from getting worse was in there.

Still, she just sat there, frustrated at her predicament.

"Hey." A looming voice came from beside her. From her corner of her eye, she saw another girl sitting next to her sporting a goth look. She seemed just as bored and unimpressed as she was.

"Hey." She simply replied.

She kept looking at all the so called brotherhoods and sisterhoods. In some way, she kind of pitied them all.

"They all look pretty stupid, don't they?" The girl beside her said, in a cold fashion, no much different than Claire's.

"Yup." Claire agreed.

"Almost pitiful, right? Like they think they're in for some fun, but are not ready for all the crap they're gonna get from their 'bros' and 'sises'."

"Exactly."

"Yeah, fraternities and sororities can be more of a problem than a solution. Tell me, what do like doing in your spare time?"

The sudden change of topic was unexpected, but Claire just went along with it.

"Studying, otherwise just lay around, reading, hearing music, sometimes both."

"Sweet. What are you reading right now?"

"Red Oozes part II."

"Ahh, those are a great read. I think part I was better, though. Can't wait for part III. Do you do any sports?"

"Eh, I was pretty good at dodgeball at high school. It was a good anger management therapy." She smirked. "Still think it is."

"Sweet. I'm a brown-belt at scarabate." She glimpsed as the monster sitting next to herturned to look at her. "You know what? I like you, girl. I think you'll be great amongst us."

"Huh?" Claire turned to see her companion as she handled her a black jacket. It had the letters 'HSS' threaded in it.

"If you don't want to join any of those cheecky-cheerie sororities, you can try and join us, the Eta Hiss Hiss. I can guarantee you we're nothing like any of the sororities here. We don't look out for new sisters aggressively. We prefer to be sought after. I do think you'll find yourself at home with us, though, so if you are ever interested, come back by the end of rush week with that jacket on and we'll be happy to welcome you." She stood and walked away. "Name's Nadya, by the way. Seeya."

Claire was left sitting alone, a bit confounded at the invitation she had just gotten.

Nonetheless, she took the jacket back with her to the dormitory, not really know what she was exactly going to do with it.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Friday. Class was over for the day and rush week would end in just two days. Like usual, Claire walked out the classroom on her own. As she exited, she overheard the post-class conversations between other monsters. "Did you understand what he meant with advantageous ambient?", "Man, I sure could use a drink. I'll invite!", "We're heading to the Gym. You coming?", etc.

Everyone had someone else to talk to. Everyone seemed to have somewhere to go with someone. Everyone but her.

As she approached the library, she walked past Rita and her old group of friends, none of whom seemed to acknowledge her anymore. "Hey, Claire!" Her roommate noticed her walking by and greeted her.

"Hey, Rita."

"Anyway." Rita turned back to her friends. "So I was, like…" She resumed to talk to them.

No 'where are you heading?', no 'see you at the dorm', no 'wanna go see the guys at their football practice?'. She just simply didn't talk to her.

_Yeah, nice to see you too, slughead…_

Speaking of football. It's already been a few weeks since second semester started and she hadn't seen Brock since. Then again, it's not like she had seen him that often last back in autumn besides those three times, which were all more coincidence than intentional.

_Come on now. Am I all of a sudden wishing he just bumped into me? What, am I feeling lonely or some crud like that? _She was snarky even in her own thoughts.

She sighed.

_Eh…just a little bit, maybe?_ She almost admitted.

"Blagh! Gotta stop pitying myself."

She was about to open the door to the library when it opened from the other side. Not anticipating the sudden action, she was hit flat in her face and knocked down into the floor. "…ow."

"Woah! I'm so sorry!" The instigator apologized frantically. "Sorry, I feel so stupid! Sorry!"

"Ugh!" She was offered help back up, but she shoved away her helper's hands. "Watch it next time, you-" She was about to shout her insult when she looked up and saw a familiar face looking down at her. "…oh."

_Speaketh of the devil…_

"Oh hey, Claire!" Brock's face lit up instantly with a smile. "Haven't seen you around! What have you been up to?"

She got up by herself. Either he was very patient, or was very good at pretending he wasn't about to be yelled at. "Eh, the usual, ya know, same old. What about you?"

_…oh boy, did I just set up a conversation with him?_

"Ah, I've been great! I took a winter job as a sign spinner for the local market. Man, it was a blast!"

"A…sign spinner, huh?"

"Oh yeah! Not trying to be a show-off, but I think I got the store quite a good number of customers that season. Man, I'm so doing that again in summer!"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh, and I've been volunteering at campus activities since the start of semester. I've been helping with football classes for the elementary kids visiting campus. I've met some cool tykes there!"

"You haven't been a year here and you're already getting involved with volunteer work, huh?"

"And for sophomore I hope I can be guide on the campus tour for the freshmen!"

_He has not changed a bit._

"Hey, Brock!" Someone called him from not too far. "You coming or what? We got practice afterwards, you know!"

"I'm coming, Mark! Give me a minute!"

"You're still with the team, huh?"

His smile dropping for a bit. "Well, whatever keeps the tuition affordable. Even though, you know…" His posture seemed to be dropping as well for a moment. "But." And he perked up once again. "We've been good! We're beating the NTU next week for sure!"

_Well, at least he tries to make the best out of it._

"Anyway, I got to go! Me and Mark are gotta go to the meeting at the frat house before our practice and then its scaring class in the evening!" He hurried off to where his partner waited impatiently.

"Catch ya later, Claire!"

"Seeya, Brock."

With Brock leaving, Claire turned towards the library's door and once she made sure no one was going to violently open the door this time.

"…wait. Frat house? Scaring class? What?"

She stopped midway through the entrance to turn back again to where Brock was as if he'd be there to answer, but she spotted him already off in the distance. She did notice something she hadn't paid attention to: instead of the team uniform and the sweater she had seen him on last semester, Brock was wearing a blue jacket with the letters "ΩH" threaded on it. Its design was identical to the same his companion, Mark, was wearing.

_So he's a frat boy now… _If she remembered correctly, Brock mentioned he wasn't exactly a guy to hang out with others. …_and he is majoring on scaring…?_ To be true, he had never told her what he was majoring on. But if he was studying the same she was, how come he had never seen him in class?

_…and he's also volunteering at campus and he plays for the football team at the same time…dude must wear himself out badly every day. Hope he's getting enough sleep._

And as if that last word was the trigger, she suddenly remembered that first day at the bus when he saw him sleep close to her.

_'Hmph, kinda cute, I guess.' _Is what she thought.

"Argh!" She shut her eyes as if that would erase that thought. She spun 180 degrees back towards the library door. "You got studying to do, Claire! Don't waste thoughts on crud."

She didn't know whether to feel glad everyone in the library was too focused on their thing or that her blush was too faint to be even noticed.

-x-x-x-x-x-

A boring, cloudy Saturday evening on her dormitory. All classes done for the day, nothing else to study, no after-class activities she was signed up to, nothing, except lying in her bed starring at a blank ceiling.

After Rita joined the girls of XOA and moved over to their house, Claire was being left temporarily without a roommate. She never imagined that having a room full of phone chatter noise would be better than a room as silent as a graveyard.

Minutes passed and she was still on her bed like a bug on a sticky trap. Soon she went from staring at the ceiling to the staring at nothing at all. She wasn't tired enough to sleep yet, nor did she feel with the energies to go out and do anything – and even if she did, what would she do?

Brock came back to her thoughts all of a sudden. _Mister don't-hang-out_, who was now seemingly hanging with other people for once, with a fraternity of all kinds of people. She'd think _'that's so not like him'_ if it wasn't because she didn't even know him very well at all.

_Either he let himself taken by the current,_ she thought_, or maybe…maybe he actually found some ok people to be around with._

_'You know what? I like you, girl. I think you'll be great amongst us.'_ She remembered the words of that HSS girl days ago. _Like you. Amongst us._ It's been a long time since someone had said something like that to her. But did she really mean it? How did she know her words were genuine?

Then again, how many other girls in Monsters University would even try inviting her to anything after her reputation as lonely, boring goth girl had been settled in stone during first semester?

She remembered the black HSS that hanged at the door's knob.

And broke the silence with a sigh.

_Very well…_

First thing she did after getting up was grab and stuff every single of her belongings hastily into her suitcases. What things couldn't fit she packed them in her school bag along with all her textbooks and notebooks. Then she picked the bedroom's keys with which she'd lock the bedroom before returning them to reception. She wasn't letting anything behind.

When she stood in front of the door, she stared at the black jacket in the doorknob.

She put it on and left.

_If this is how Brock felt like…well, I can't blame him._

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Did you girls see Chet's face during the face-off at class? Hah, if only I had taken a picture." Rhonda said to her fellow HSS freshmen sisters.

"Oh, you mean, like this one?" Sonia pulled out her phone and showed it to her colleagues as the photo of Chet the ROR boy was displayed. "It's the third time this week I take a picture like this in class."

"And Mister Knight hasn't found out? Or has he ever?" Rhonda asked.

"Nah, you kidding? He's too busy kissing Worthington's ass to even notice." Claire said with a snarky smirk. "Remember last week? It's like he was giving a speech on what Johnny Worthington's ass tastes like."

They shared a chuckle. "Just wait ten years from now when he retires." Rhonda followed. "They'll be selling it at bookstores: '10 reasons why no ass tastes as good as Johnny Worthington's'!" And they laughed once again.

"Anyway, girls, I need a new notepad so I'm gonna check the campus store real quick." Claire said to the rest of the quartet. "I'll meet you soon at the house, ok? Tell Rosie I won't be late for the meeting."

"Alright, Claire. Will do. Catch ya later." They said as they took a turn on their route and left Claire to head on her own.

It had been a month since Claire had become one of the Eta Hiss Hiss sisters. As much as she hated to admit it, after many days of skepticism, she now felt like she had a group of people she truly belonged into. They were glad to have her amongst them and she was glad of be amongst them. Weeks later, it felt almost as if she had been a HSS all her life.

They respected her and she respected her. She went to class with them, studied with them, hanged out with them…practically everything she never imagined doing with someone else.

The fact it made her family's nagging to cease at last, now that she had followed the family tradition, was a huge bonus. Admitting how wrong she had been was a lot less painfully than she imagined. Being one of the HSS was one of the best things she remembered happening to her.

It felt almost as if Claire's life at college was finally starting to piece itself together.

"Claire?"

"Huh?" She stopped to see who called her. Passing right beside her, was an all-familiar beaked face she hadn't seen for a whole month. "Oh…hey, Brock. Long time no see."

"Hah, it's you, Claire!" His face brightened up explosively with excitement. "Man, it's been so long! I almost didn't recognize you with you wearing that."

"Oh, the jacket? Yeah, been wearing for weeks already."

"Oooh, so, you're one of the HSS sisters, huh? How are you getting along with them?"

"Well...pretty good, actually."

"Man, so glad to hear that. But no wonder why we haven't bumped into one another a lot this semester."

_Not like we ever do a lot._

"Ya know, with both of us being Greeks now… and you know, me still being in the team and doing volunteer work and studying hard for scaring and-"

"Um, about that, Brock." She interrupted him, remembering the questions that popped up in her mind last time he saw him. "I've been wondering…you are majoring in scaring, correct?"

"Well, of course! Why else would I be taking scaring classes? Hehe."

"Right. But I was wondering. If you're a scaring major, and so am I…how come I never see you in class?"

"Oh, right. You're on group A. I'm on B, at evening."

"Group B? Never knew there was one. But it makes sense, I guess."

"Yup…oh, hey! I have a great idea." He sounded eager. "Why don't we study together one of these days?"

"…What?!" And now Claire began to feel uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I mean, we're on the same career and we've known each other for a long while, right? I'm sure we could do a nice studying pair. What do you say?"

She felt as if Brock was close to stepping over a line he couldn't cross. "Um, sorry, Brock. I appreciate the thought", _not really_, "but I already have my sisters to study with, you know."

"Well, yeah, of course. But I thought maybe-"

"Besides, don't you get to study with your frat brothers too?

"True. I know, but I just thought it could be a good chance, ya know."

That made her raise an eyebrow. "Good chance…for what?"

"Uh, well." He rubbed the back of his head. "Ya know, get to know each other better?"

_Get to what? _She was a baffled…and feeling even more uncomfortable now.

"Look. Brock." She said with a bit of hesitance. "I know we've known each other for a good while now, but…"

She didn't know how she was going to tell him this, but she was about to anyway.

"Hey, Claire!" She heard Rhonda's voice calling her, interrupting her words and her thoughts. She turned around to see her and Sonia hurrying towards her. "There's been a change! Rosie wants us all to meet at the house urgent-" They noted Brock's presence. As they got closer to both, they looked noticeable uneasy about the scene before them.

"Uh, Claire?" Sonia asked. "What's…this?" She gestured towards Brock.

"Oh, hello!" Brock greeted them gently. "You must be Claire's sorority sisters. I'm-"

"Hey, Omega, I'm not talking to you!" Sonia interrupted rudely. Brock's smile dropped.

"Sonia? What was that for?" Claire asked in confusion.

"Claire, you do know what you're doing, right?!"

"Um, talking with someone?"

"Uhuh, except that _someone_ happens to be-"

"Hey, Brock!" A masculine voice came from behind them. "What are you doing here? Practice is about to st-" It was Mark, Claire remembered, whom he last saw about a month ago outside the library. He cut his words the moment he realized just who was Brock facing. "Oh, hey. Who do we have here?" He said sardonically, glaring at the trio of HSSs as he walked around them. "But it's none other than the _hissies_.Don't you know any better than harass the new member of our frat?"

"Harass?" Rhonda returned the aggression. "It's your newbie who bumped stupidly in middle of our sister's way!"

"Ohh, I see, so you girls just lured a new one to the dark side. What kind of evil spell from your witchcraft did you use on her, huh?"

"Uh, Mark?" Brock was just as out of it as Claire was.

"Well what about you, huh? Took you long enough to find your sixth!" Sonia taunted back. "What happened? Are you Omega _Clowns_ so desperate to keep your circus running?"

"Ha! Let's see who gets laughed at when we take you out of the Scare Games this year!"

Brock and Claire turned back and forth as they spew verbal aggressions at one another.

"Are you kidding? You guys haven't competed in years! Do you actually expect to win just because you got _that?" _Sonia gestured at Brock once more.

"Uhh, girls." Claire tried to speak up. "Can you explain me what-"

"Heh, just wait and see, _hissies_. When semester is over, the Omega Howls will wash away that black make-up with your tears!" He turned his back at the trio of girls. "Come on, Brock." He patted his frat brother on the shoulder. "We'll deal with them after the end of the course. Let's go." He eyed them venomously one last time before walking off.

Brock stood baffled for a moment, trying to process what just happened. He looked at Claire with an expression she found hard to read.

"Brock, come on! We're late to the practice!"

Not knowing what else to say, he followed his comrade and left the scene. Claire didn't know what to make of all this either, and simply watched as the two left.

"Look at them go." Rhonda grinned. "They know they don't stand a chance."

"Yup." Sonia continued. "Bunch of barking, but no fangs to bite with. Hah!"

"Girls!" Claire turned to them. "Care to explain what just happened here?"

The two looked at each other, then back at Claire. "Uh…you don't know?" Sonia said.

"Uh…no! Whatever it Is that I don't know and haven't been told."

"Oh right. She's only been with us for a month, remember?" Rhonda reminded Sonia.

"Well, seeing as we'll be facing them off this year, we might as well let her know."

"Let me know what?! Does anyone want to explain what's going on?!"

"We'll tell you back at the house. Rosie wants the meeting to be done now and we can't be late. Come on!" They hurried back to the HSS house, leaving Claire even more confused.

She also couldn't forget Brock's face before he left, looking just as puzzled about this deal as she was.

_Ugh…I better not be worrying about him. I already got an end of semester that I don't know if I'm looking forward to._


	3. Fun and not so fun games

Author's notes:

Just a few things I thought would be necessary to point out.

This episode covers the Scare Games during Claire and Brock's freshman year, which I intended to happen a couple of years before the events of Monsters University. An idea of mine was that, though the idea behind the five events of the Scare Games were the same no matter when, the way they were carried out was very different depending on how the current Greek Council planned it or was able to afford it. So the way the games are depicted in this chapter are different from the way we see it on MU. I'll dwelve into that in a much later chapter.

Second, for those who've dewelved into the characters of MU from supplementary material, like the Fearbook, will recognize that the sisters of Eta Hiss Hiss I mention by name are actual characters from the movie, hence why I don't describe them. However, though Omega Howl is listed as an actual fraternity in the story, and we actually see one of its members in the movie, we don't actually get any names from them. The only I named was Mark, but that's entirely made up. I leave it up to you to imagine how he and the rest look like. As for why we didn't see them or any of the other fraternities and sororities seen in the MU website, I can only guess some are just not interested on competing or don't have enough members to. In case of the Omega Howls, though, I did come up with my own reason, which you're about to see.

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

**The way he looks like when he sleeps**

**3.- Fun and not so fun games**

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

"So the Omega Howls are back in the game, huh?" Rosie, the head of the HSS, rubbed her large chin as she seemed to think of something important in her mind.

She stood in middle of the common room where the rest of her sisters sat around her in a half-circle. "Huh." She chuckled. "Well it was about time."

"Alright, you know what? I had it." And Claire still had no idea what was going on. "Can anybody please tell me already what is our deal with the Omegas? Are we holding a strong grudge on us or something? Jeez, at least give me a hint or something!"

"Grudge? Us?" Rosie raised an eyebrow. "No no no. We don't hold a grudge against them; _they_ hold it against _us._

"Let me explain, Claire." Susan spoke up as she stood up from her seat. "The Omega Howls used to be one of the campuses' biggest and most popular frats, perhaps as much as the RORs. Three years ago, however, the Omegas suffered a, for the lack of a better word, _embarrassing_", she stressed heavily on the last word, "defeat against the back-at-then Etas. They were so humiliated by the loss that they went as far as calling foul play from the Etas demanded our disqualification. Of course, they didn't get what they wanted, and ever since then, the Omegas have held a very harsh grudge against us, an attitude that drove many of its own members to quit and join other fraternities and that keeps many others from joining them, turning the once-big fraternity into the small and pathetic far it is now."

"Something which they also blame us for." Sonia added. "So, as you can see, they're major sore losers."

"And since they never had more than five members since then", Susan continued, "they haven't competed in the Scare Games. Until now, that is."

"For the last three years", Rosie spoke again, "the HSS have become victims of pranks, harassment, and blackmail from the Omegas. Because of the recent turn of events, we expect these happenings to increase this year."

"And we've never asked the Greek Council to do anything because…?" Claire wondered.

"Normally, we would have." Rhonda said. "But our antecessors decided to make the Omegas an exception. They started the war against us, so we're giving it back to them."

"I thought the principle towards other houses was to keep anything mean spirited to ourselves to avoid hostile situations." Claire stated confusedly.

"Like I said." Rhonda brought up. "Our antecessors made the Omegas an exception. We're respecting that."

_Can I be the first to say what a dumb idea that was?_ But she didn't say it, not expecting a good reception for her thoughts.

"Just wait and see, girls." Rosie said smugly. "When we beat them again in this year's games, the Omegas will be goners forever." She boasted. "And until then, everything they try to do against us we'll make sure to do them back."

All of the sisters agreed to their lead sister's declaration, eagerness for the imminent strife showing in their faces.

Claire, however, felt she was the only one present that didn't look forward to the imminent turn of events that awaited her the months to come.

And yet again, the thought of Brock came back to her. Being an Omega himself, what stance would he take in all this? After all, he seemed to be the last person in campus to ever take part in such an ugly ruse…or was he?

_'They're just the most amazing thing to happen every year in Monsters U!'_

Claire recalled those words of his, words she doubted very much at this point.

_'And this year…I'll be in them!"_

She didn't know what to make of that sentence, but if Brock was going to be in the games this year, she hoped it wasn't bad news.

-x-x-x-x-x-

A week after that meeting, the Omegas threw the first rock. Except instead of a rock, it was a massive balloon filled with dark and bright blue confetti carefully aimed at the HSS house's lightning rod, exploding in a blue-colored mess that ruined the red-violet and dark gray façade. Along with the confetti, several flyers that read 'ΩH IS BACK' fell all over the place.

Although childish, it wasn't bad for a first strike, they had to admit. After all, it only gave them ideas on how to strike them back even worse.

And they did, in the form of not one, not two, but three large balloons filled with deodorant that drowned the stink of the house with the gross smell of flowers and mint. The horribly good smell drove all of the frat brothers inside rushing out of the house to avoid suffocating in the sweet aroma. It was a spectacle. No one in the frat row dared to get any close to the Omega Howl house for a whole week.

Watching their foes pathetically gasping for the stench of fresh air, the HSS sisters cheered at their victory on this first battle.

Against all she initially thought, Claire had to admit to herself she enjoyed seeing the Omegas beaten in their own game. If this is what it was going to be like bringing the Omegas down all the way until the Scare Games, then she was on.

She didn't realize that part of the reason why she felt no remorse in her partake on the ruse was because Brock was nowhere to be seen during their strike.

-x-x-x-x-x-

As soon as the ΩH house recovered its original odor, the Omegas launched the second strike: a Saturday night raid of the HSS house, a time when, as the Omegas had learned recently, the house would be entirely empty. They didn't question the reason behind the absence of their rivals and took the opportunity to raid their house and search for anything incriminating, embarrassing or simply amusing to take with them.

Their search was in vain, however, as they found little to nothing of interest to take from them and left the house, frustrated, but not without trashing away the house as much as they could and scribbling their initials in as many walls as the only marker they had with them allowed them to.

Nothing prepared them for the surprise that waited them at their house, which they found with the front door and all windows wide open, all lights turned on and every single sound device inside turned on and amped to the max while playing the cheesiest music they could imagine. And if that wasn't enough, when they stepped inside to turn off everything they discovered many of their stuff missing: clothing, sports gear, hygiene products, food and everything that, if exposed, would bring complete embarrassment to the whole house.

They did not have to think hard to know who had orchestrated such dastardly scheme.

Back to their house, the Etas returned victorious as they dropped their many garbage bags full of stolen goods from the Omega house. With the exception of the one filled with food, they buried the bags in the same hole behind the house where they had safely kept all their belongings during their enemy's visit.

They proceeded to celebrate by feasting on the stolen edibles.

"Cheers for the Eta Hiss Hiss!" Rosie announced as she and her sisters raised their cardboard cups.

"Cheers!"

"And cheers for our sister Claire", she continued, as she and the rest turned their views at her, "who came up with this diabolical and nasty plan!"

They cheered all around her. Claire couldn't hide her enjoyment for such flattery.

"And this isn't all of it yet." She spoke up. "After we make a copy of every single thing they don't want to be shown, we'll make them a little bribe." She smirked. "All their things back…in exchange for cleaning our house."

The rest gasped in awe.

"And while they're wearing these!" Sonia spoke up as she pulled a maid outfit.

"And while we're using these!" Rhonda said while pulling out a video camera.

"Exactly." Claire finished.

She received praise from all her sisters, who couldn't be any more eager to proceed with the plan, which, she had to admit, was just so incredibly good. _Even I am amazed that I could come up with it._

Like an itch in the back of her mind, a nagging part of her wondered if, in all of this, that Brock guy had been playing any role. Was he being affected by this ordeal? And if he was, just how badly?

But she didn't pay attention to that. She was too busy enjoying the praise from her sisters and the taste of stolen chips.

-x-x-x-x-x-

After a semester of dirty pranks and schemes that ended up with the campus pool turned into gelatin, a stampede of chickens spreading paint across the frat row and the exhibition of embarrassing video footage on the screens of the football stadium in front of the entire campus during three games, the feud between the Etas and the Omegas came close to its pinnacle as the end of course had finally arrived. Somehow during the breaks from all their antics and mischiefs, some with good grades, some with mediocre ones, Claire and her freshman Eta sisters managed to pass.

Now with classes out of concern, she and her sisters had one single goal to focus on: the annual Scare Games.

The opening ceremony of the event was held in front of the Scaring School building, as usual. All participating fraternities and sororities were present, including Omega Howl, whose return to the Scare Games turned to be a surprise for many.

Before the Greek Council president and vice-president announced the names of the participating teams and their members, the dean of scaring, Miss Hardscrabble herself, made her traditional appearance. Her presence alone was enough to keep everyone present, including Claire herself, standing in silence and paying complete attention to her announcement.

"First of all", she started, "I'd like to congratulate all fraternities and sororities who were brave enough to sign up for the Scare Games this year. Participating in this highly honored event is alone an act that demonstrates your determination and potential as, not only scarers, but also remarkable students and monsters all-around. So far that, I congratulate all participating fraternities and sororities."

She paced towards the other side of the stage with microphone in hand. "It has also come to my attention that, amongst all of you, there's a been an ongoing rivalry between a fraternity and a sorority whose feud has been noticed and spoken of by the entire campus. I don't find necessary to call their names here, given we all know who they are by now." All of the present alumni turned their eyes back and forth between the Etas and the Omegas, standing afar in opposite locations. "I do, however, find necessary to mention the following: whatever petty acts of animosity two houses engage into, as long as no other party finds itself involved and no serious harm is done, is of no concern to the administration and thus is not going to be penalized."

"However." Her eyes shrunk and the tone of her voice deepened. "Let it be clear that in this institution, if there is something that is absolutely not tolerated, is the act of foul play during such a respected competition as the Scare Games. Therefore, should any team, for whatever reason, be discovered in cheating during any of the events or in any way influencing or tampering with the results of them in their favor will be immediately disqualified _and_, if the act is severe enough, also suspended or even expelled completely from Monsters University."

All present went completely silent once again, some even shaking at the thought of expulsion by the hand of Hardscrabble herself, even those who were in risk of being so whatsoever.

"Well, now with that said", she paced back to other side of the stage, setting back the microphone on its pole, "I do hope everyone enjoys the Scare Games and may the best monsters win. Thank you." She finished simply, before she spread her wings and took off into flight, leaving the scene completely.

"…alright, then." The president of the Greek Council broke the silence at last. "Next, we announce the list of all participating houses and their participating members." He took his block pad and read it aloud. "Roar Omega Roar…"

The crowd cheered as the ROR waved back at them, boasting their evident egoes with their smug postures and handsome boy smiles.

The Etas stood in a distant spot from the stage as they announced the rest of the names of all participating teams and house members who would be participating. They knew theirs would be announced soon enough.

"Eta Hiss Hiss."

The crowd cheered again and now it was Claire's turn and her sister's to be the center of attention.

When Claire heard her name listed, a vigor she didn't know even existed sparked up inside her. It amazed her how much joining the Etas had changed her mind set on things: from being totally uninterested about the Scare Games, she now couldn't wait any longer to compete in them, along with her freshman sisters Sonia, Rhonda and Nadya, as well as Susan and their leader, Rosie.

_Claire, you're such a shameless hypocrite._ She chuckled at her own thought.

"And finally, oh!" The Greek president looked in surprise at the list. "After a three year hiatus, Omega Howl!"

The Etas looked as their rivals now enjoyed the spotlight. They all eyed them with contempt, completely confident that they'd be sweeping the floor with their faces in the games this year.

There was just something bugging, Claire, however. She didn't know exactly what was it. She looked carefully at the Omega boys- What was it that bothered so much?

She half-listened to their names listed by the president of the GC. That is, until the last name ringed a bell in her. "…Brock Pearson."

_Brock?!_

She remembered instantly as the strange purple-feathered monster amongst the Omegas became once again familiar to Claire's eyes. After nearly a whole semester without hearing of him, there he was again, the same old energetic and over-enthusiastic monster she remembered to meet. Just where had he been all this time? She didn't see him once during the whole feud against the Omegas and her sisters. And now he's there all of a sudden. She couldn't help but wonder what the mystery behind his disappearance was.

"Let them cheer all they want, girls." Rosie said to them. "We'll see how they celebrate their well-deserved defeat." Everyone agreed, looking towards their victory over the Omegas with eagerness.

When Claire thought about, she actually agreed about it too.

_Don't forget, Claire: he's still with the enemy, and you…you are with your sisters._

She brushed away any sort of pity she thought she was feeling for him. What was she thinking back then? Worrying about him? Was she forgetting about how annoying has he been ever since she met him?

_Besides, look at him. I bet he's hardly returning the feelings_. _He seems to be enjoying himself by being part of his second-rate fraternity._

"Come on, Etas. We have to prepare for the first event tomorrow." Rosie announced. She and the rest walked back to the HSS house. Claire followed shortly after.

_'Kinda cute'…hah, my ass._

-x-x-x-x-x-

Running past the scattered faux-human children plushes and toys scattered across the hallways of the door design school-whose staff wasn't going to be too happy of cleaning later-, the Etas finished the run course with a time of one minute and twenty seconds, ten of which were penalizations for coming into contact with the fake 'toxic' objects. They ran with one of the best times, which guaranteed their place in the next event of the competition.

However, much to their chagrin, their rivals, the Omegas, were not too far behind and had finished the course themselves in just a few seconds more than themselves. While this placed them below the Etas in the time table, their time was not amongst the worst. This meant that the Omegas remained in the competition for the next event.

After the entire building had been emptied, the results were announced. Not very surprisingly, the ROR made the fastest run, followed by the JOX, then the EEK, then the HSS themselves and lastly the OHs. The PNK, coming last of them all, had to drop the competition after making it through with the worst time.

Once the crowd started to walk off, the Etas and the Omegas walked closer to one another, exchanging glares that would kill. Only a few feet away from her, Claire felt as if the hostility between her sisters and the Omega boys radiated out of their bodies. She saw their eyes looking at them like they were they were burning in heat. She looked back at them, with a smug and sardonic face that she knew would stir their heated hatred for them.

Then her gaze met Brock's. Suddenly, she felt her body freeze for a second, as he felt his large eyes staring intensely back at her. As if he knew the reaction he had provoked in her, he grinned maliciously.

Claire quickly recovered composure and put the venom back in her stare. _Don't forget, Claire, that he's with them now, and you are with your sisters._

"Well, Omegas." Rosie broke the tense silence. "Looks like you managed to drag the inevitable for another day."

"Yeah, well, of course." Mark confidently responded. "After all, wouldn't it be a pity to see the defeat of the _hissies_ so early in the competition? Gotta save the best for last, after all!"

"You're all talk, _Clownies._" Sonia raised her fist. "The only reason you're still here is because the Pythons actually managed to be dumber, not because you got any smarter."

"Huh, yeah?!"

Claire gasped silently at the sound of Brock's voice speaking out loudly.

"We'll see if you can say that of yourselves when, tomorrow, we beat you in the competition tomorrow!"

Despite all the indifference she had for Brock to this point, to hear him speak like that was something she never thought she'd hear.

Still, she wasn't going to forget Brock was on the enemy team.

"Oooh, the birdhead sure caws loud!" She remarked as she stepped forward. "It'll be fun to see if you can keep that beak shut long enough in the next event, because, otherwise", she crossed her arms, "you and your team are flying off all the way out of the competition."

She smiled as she heard the laughter from her colleagues. And now, it was her turn to see Brock as he stood there frozen. _Not so loud now, are ya, big bird?_

"Heh, let them have their laugh, Brock." Mark said bitterly. "We got a second game to prepare for." He and the rest of his team turned their backs on the black-dressed sisterhood as they walked off, almost sheepishly.

"Oh, don't even bother!" Claire wasn't finished. "It's not like you're gonna win anyway!"

"We'll make you eat your words, hissie! Come on, Brock, let's go."

Brock turned himself around too, following behind his brothers.

Triumphant, Claire returned to her sisters, who complemented on her audacity against the Omegas while walking back to their house.

Just to enjoy the taste of their humiliation a bit more, she looked back at the rival fraternity as they walked off in the opposite direction.

As soon as she did she did she briefly catched the sight of Brock looking back at her as well. She thought he ought to be looking at her with grudge as he should rightfully be. However, when she looked at the way he was looking at her, the smugness of her expression was wiped off.

_Is he looking at me…sad?_

However, as soon as Brock became aware he was being looked at he quickly turned his face away from her.

Later that day, Claire couldn't focus enough on the training for tomorrow. She couldn't get the image of Brock's saddened face out of her head.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The enormous amount of money used for the set-up was evident by just looking at it. The ginormous bridges installed all across the gymnasium was just perfect for the second event to be carried out. Looks can be deceiving when you can expand a regular rinky dink gymnasium, into something of a high flying speed run!

With the roof of the gym mechanically pulled back to raise the course up higher in the air, it created the feeling of anxiousness, adrenaline, and determination that rushed the blood of many competitors. Placement of flags were scattered on many of the dead ends of the course some located high above the school itself, and some low that were close to touching a tree outside. Tension did arise when the floors also moved to reveal what was underneath the floors. The fluffiest pillows all pink, cute and cuddly that could make any monster throw up or pee their pants. It was realized that those fluffy items were also, from little human girls. When the whistle was blown, all teams scattered like wildfire the moment they reached up the ramp. The teams made their way towards their respective team flags in due time once their eyes adjusted to finding the right colors and letters. While location may be quick to acquire it was a matter of speed to carry one out of the course. That was combined with avoiding the monsters who volunteered to be blind-folded to tag anyone out who comes across them. The volunteers specialized in their smell almost as good as a swamp bloodhound. The finish line was located on the lowest deck of the course. There was a ramp, like the starting point, that took the winning teams near the campus pond.

Time was not wasted as the JOX were already on their way out of the gym with their flag in hand. Close behind were the RORs, who were only a few steps from taking their flag.

Meanwhile, the Etas sprinted their way carefully through one of the stairways that led towards their flag. Coincidentally, the Omegas were making their dash right below.

Leading her sisters right behind Rosie, Claire set her eyes focused on the flag as her colleagues in the rear kept an eye for any chaser in the vicinity. She was aware that the rival team was right below them, but tempting as it was to spy on their progress, she was determined to not lose sight of her goal.

But then it happened.

All it took was tripping on one of the steps to make Claire nearly fall on the stairway.

The combined sounds of her teammates' gasps and her arm clutching the metal bars was enough for the nearby monsters to run after them from both sides of the stairway. They were surrounded.

Not willing to give up, Rosie pointed her colleagues down at the walkway underneath them. "Jump!" She commanded loudly, since the silent approach was now well out of the question.

Claire stood in shock. _Jump!?_

The team followed and jumped on the walkway one by one, starting with the ones behind. They landed right behind the Omega Howls, who stopped to look back to look at their rivals jumping away from their persecutors.

When it was Claire's turn to jump, she hesitated.

_I can't do this!_ Panic invaded her.

"Claire, you got to jump down!" Rosie yelled right behind her. Seeing the fear in Claire's eyes, she decided to make the jump first. "Jump!" She and the rest called her from below.

She saw the chasers approaching her quickly. She had to make a choice quick.

_Come on, Claire! They're counting on you!_

She closed her eyes and took a blind jump.

_…the hell am I doing?_

She opened her eyes just in time to see she had missed the walkway by inches, sending her to her fall straight towards the bottom floor. Very, very bad mistake.

"Claire!"

She felt a large hand catch her from the forearm, leaving her hanging.

When she looked up he saw Brock staring down at her as he grabbed her tightly. "Hang on, Claire! I got ya!"

She was entirely speechless. Was Brock trying to save her?!

"Brock! Are you out of your mind?!" Mark yelled from behind. His voice immediately alerted their nearby chasers. "Let her fall!" His comrades agreed with the same. "Yeah, let'er fall! We gotta go!"

But he remained still, with Claire's arm in his grasp. He looked at his teammates, then back at Claire. She could see in his face a tormenting indecision

_He's…he's not gonna let me go, is he?!_

"Brock! Hurry up, you idiot!" But despite the pressure from his peers, he held her firm. He wasn't going to let her fall.

But then, as if something inside her clicked all of a sudden, Claire made the decision for him.

She forced Brock's grasp open with her free hand, letting her fall all the way down face-first against the flamboyantly cushioned floor of the gym.

Despite lying on a hazard zone, she stayed still for a few seconds until she raised her head.

_Claire, you're a damn idiot…_

"OUT!"

She darted off the pillows and stared down at the remaining floor. Somehow, the realization that she had made her team lose had made her fall actually feel painful.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"If she had just jumped instead of standing there like a coward we would still be competing right now!"

"Give her a break, Rhonda! I shouldn't have told you girls to do that in the first place. It was a huge risk."

"And then do what, Rosie? Just stay there and wait until we were caught? Let's get real; we lost because of _her_ fault!"

"Rhonda, she did her very best, just like we all did…but, as much as I hate to agree, she's right, Rosie. The second she tripped on those stairs we were pretty much out of the games."

"Don't say that, Susan! She could have made the jump like we all did."

"You know, I could have done the jump if, you know, you had picked me to compete this year instead of her."

"Ah, shut up, Nancy."

"You know I'm right! I could have jumped, we could have won and put those Omegas back in their place!"

"Forget about the Omegas, will you? They didn't make it past the third competition. They lost. They got nothing to gloat about anymore."

"Oh, except, you know, that we still lost embarrassingly to them all thanks to-"

"Nancy, shut the hell up!"

Claire did not even bother to let her presence be noticed again. In fact, she very much preferred hearing them talk like she wasn't even there. She didn't even want to be there to begin with.

She simply sat there silently with her face buried in the cushion, humiliated, ashamed, angry, full of self-loathe and confused.

-x-x-x-x-x-

She didn't feel comfortable staying at the Eta house this summer. Rosie respected her motives and let her spend some time away by her own. Some of her sisters insisted her to stay, while others couldn't be any gladder to have her gone for a good while. She didn't know who she agreed with, but regardless of that, she just felt like she had to be away for some time.

So with baggage in hand, she walked alone across the frat row, ready to leave campus once again.

But as if the universe had nothing better to do but add insult to her injury, she saw as the last people in the world she ever wanted to be nearby approached her from her back: the Omega Hoawls.

"Hey, _hissie._ Whatsa matter? Not wicked enough for your little witch club-house anymore?"

_Don't bother. Just keep on walking._

"Oh oh, what's that you said? '_Don't even bother!_'_" _One of them mocked. "_'It's not like you're gonna win anyway!'_?"

She sped up her walk, but this only incited them to catch on her even close her.

"Where are you going, hissie? Tryin' to fly off? I'd not do that if I were you. You could fall flat on your face again!"

She could feel them even closer as she stepped into the bridge just above the river.

"Say, guys, why don't we help her out?" One of them said really close to her. "With this summer heat I bet she's itching for a good jump into the water!"

She gasped at the feeling of one of their hands about to pull her up from her arms.

"Stop it!"

A familiar voice yelled as the grasp of was violently pulled away from her. She froze in her place, seeing herself covered completely in the tall shadow of the monster that now stood back to back, between her and her harassers.

"Eh…Brock? What the heck do you think you're doing?"

"You heard me. Stop it!"

"Wha? What is wrong you, pal? Are you forgetting who's right behind ya?"

"I'm NOT your pal! And I do perfectly know who she is, thank you."

"Woah. Are you defying us now?" She recognized that as Mark's voice, but Claire did not dare to turn around just to confirm it. "We forgave you for not wanting to take part in our war against the Etas, but _this? _Did you forget already? Without us, you'd have had no one to enter the Scare Games, dumbass! You'd have kept looking for a frat to join and beg to be a part of and _never_ compete in the Games if it hadn't been for us!"

"Yes…but you know what? Without me, you would have not returned to the Scare Games at all! And without me, you won't be able to play in them ever again!"

"Don't. You. Dare!"

Brock didn't reply. However, she saw through his shadow that he began to take off a piece of clothing he was wearing and tossed it down the river. She looked at it at the corner of her eye. It had the initials of Omega Howls.

"You just didn't-"

"And good luck trying to find yourselves someone to join you next year. And if you try doing something to me or her, Mark, go ahead. Can't promise you the coach will take it easy on you if I tell him, though. And you know he _will_ believe me."

She didn't hear their voices anymore. She felt tense, scared even. She stood there near Brock for a minute, not knowing what was going to happen next or what was she even going to do next.

Then she saw in Brock's shadow that he had just turned around.

"You're fine now. They're gone." His voice tone sounded completely different now. Was he…happy?

Claire finally caught the courage to look back and look up at him.

It was that same huge smile he remembered from him.

"Those morons won't be a problem anymore. I promise ya!"

**-x-x-x-x-x-**


	4. Sophomore and suffer more

**The way he looks like when he sleeps**

**4.- Sophomore and suffer more**

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

Claire could feel him walking close behind her. It was her most awkward walk in her whole life.

_He, of all monsters…_

One way or another, Brock had to be always in middle of Claire's most crucial moments during her freshman year. Didn't matter if he was physically present or not. Somehow, ever since she had arrived at Monsters University, that big, feathered jock always managed to get into her mind. Yet she hardly even knew him.

She disliked him; at least she used to think she did. She used to think he was annoying. He looked almost pathetic to her. How someone could ever be as happy, as unbelievably enthusiastic and energetic she did not understand. She thought it was senseless. What was he, an idiot? He had to be. At least she used to think he was that: a complete idiot.

Now it was her who felt like a complete idiot.

Just what was he thinking about her right now? Why would he do what he did? Did he pity her? Did he want something in return? What did he want? _Just what on earth does he want with me?_

Claire stopped walking. She had to say something. It didn't matter what, she felt as if she just didn't open her mouth her throat, lungs and stomach would burst internally.

She didn't turn around to see him but she could tell he had stopped just feet away from her. "Is everything alright?" It's all he asked.

_Yes. No. Maybe. None of your business. Shut up. Go away, birdhead. Why are you following me? Why did you just help me out? What do you want? For crying out loud, get out of my freaking case! _ Her train of thought raced across her mind like a locomotive without brakes waiting to derail and wreck into a mess.

"Claire?"

"I'm…sorry."

"Huh?"

She looked around her and saw a bench nearby. Walking towards it, Brock followed, and as she sat in it Brock did also. In some way, sitting felt like it'd let her make words come out easier.

"Brock…I don't know why the heck you are the way you are. Don't know why on earth you chose to do the things you have done nor how why those things ended up all the way to me. I don't know why you just helped me out back at the scare games and just now in the bridge. I don't know why, oh why, you are so friendly and affable to me and why you seem to like me and act like we're friends even though I make it clear with my crystal clear with my attitude that I don't wish to be around you…but I know that someone nice like you doesn't deserve to be given crap by someone as, well, not-nice like me. And for that, I'm sorry."

They remained silent. She was starting to fear that talking at all was a bad idea to begin with. She still couldn't bring herself to look at Brock, leaving her wondering what his reaction was just now.

"You're not the only one who's got to apologize."

"Huh?" Before she knew it was now her who was looking at him and him who avoided seeing her.

"I'm sure you've noticed already, but I'm just terrible when it comes to making choices. I let my excitement to get the best of me. When I get to do something new, I feel excited. When I meet someone new, I feel excited. When I feel like I'm going to lose something that excites me, I get desperate and do stupid things. I wanted to compete in the Scare Games so much. The Omegas were my only ticket in. No frat in campus would let me in with them. I don't blame them, though. I may be the rookie player of the year, but that doesn't stop the smarter people to see how pathetic I can be. Heck, even the Omegas did. The only reason they let me with them was because they were just as desperate as I was to compete. So I complied with everything they did, tried to pose and act like one of them just so I could participate in the Games like I wanted."

To be honest with herself, she wasn't all too surprised of what she was hearing. It was the fact that Brock seemed to be well aware of it; however, after being apparently oblivious to it, what had her intrigued.

"But you weren't with them when we had a feud against them." She still had that curiosity. "Why?"

"Well…when I knew about their grudge against the HSS…I just didn't want to be a part of it, ya know? Specially after just knowing you were with them. I was in this for the fun, you know. The joy of being part of a great competition. That's all I wanted…not causing harm to anyone."

What was that Claire felt now after she heard what he last said? That feeling when you realize someone helped out someone, not to be given something in return, but out of genuine good intentions? _It's called 'feeling touched', genius…okay, maybe that's going too far, but let's say it's that for the lack of a better explanation._

Regardless as how much as she wanted to be in denial about that, she had to admit to herself: perhaps there really was more about Brock that she thought there was all this time. Suddenly it was her who had been the shallow one.

"It's hard to explain how I feel when I'm excited," he shifted the subject a little, "but it just feels…great, ya know. I feel great. And I love to share that same feeling. I want them to feel great too. I do what I can to do that. Heh, but I guess that's just dumb fantasizing from me. Lately, all I seem to do is annoy people, like you."

_Congratulations. You finally realize it! You are annoying._ Tempting as it was to say that, she didn't dare to let it out just to feed her torn ego and sound like a complete jerk to the guy who was opening himself to her.

_Well, it is true. _She fought hard against her own guilt. _But, heh, it is also true that I do nothing but to bore and piss off all around me who isn't as much of an ass as I am._

She remembered her Eta sisters, the ones who seemed to genuinely like her and enjoy her company, but after the games, just found her presence a complication. But then again, what else was she really expecting? A best-friends-forever club?

Brock, in the other hand, despite looking like her polar opposite, just somehow kept smiling at her, as if he was genuinely glad to see her, every time they crossed roads.

"Brock, I hope you don't mind me asking, but…all this time, why did you like me?"

"Well…like I said, I got excited at first. And then, well, because you are the first person since middle school I was able to sit down and talk my heart out to without walking out on me."

Not like she had much of a choice when she did back at the bus ride six months ago. _Then again, I could have just moved to another row, so…ugh, I actually did have a choice!_ Fighting her own conscience wasn't so easy anymore.

"And also... no, I don't want to keep causing you trouble. I guess it's best if I just stop bothering you."

He got up and turned to the direction he had come from.

"So, seeya, I guess."

Was that it? Is that how whatever there was between them was going to end?

_Okay, Claire, if you let him go, he's not gonna talk to you ever again and you won't have to worry about him bothering you anymore._ She began to consider. _You feel annoyed by him again and he won't feel guilty for that. Everyone's happy. Right? So just let him walk away and it'll be just fine._

Happy was the worst word to use, seeing that Brock looked far from happy judging by his lowered posture. And to be frank, Claire didn't feel too happy either.

_Okay, maybe not right now, but just wait. You'll feel a lot better when you no longer have to see him again. Yep! It's gonna be juuuuust fine._

Maybe it was. Maybe Brock was going to get better and move on with his life and somehow find someone who can put up with his large enthusiasm. Maybe Claire will feel fine in the company of the HSS, even after knowing not everyone seems to truly like her and they will just have to pretend to as much as she was going to have to. Maybe they'll live plentiful lives not ever knowing of each other again, eventually forgetting one another and never recalling a non-existent bond for the rest of their existence. Maybe it was all going to be just fine.

Or maybe it wasn't.

"Brock, wait!"

He stopped and turned to see her with a quizzical look.

_Okay, genius, now you say something._

"Um…"

_Come on, you already got his attention, so don't just stay there looking like an idiot!_

"…you mentioned a while ago you wanted to see if we could study together…"

She saw as he straightened up his posture. _Good! You're saying the right words, now don't blow it!_

"…but since the course is over and we don't have any more class…"

_You're dragging it, moron! Say it already!_

"…maybeeee…we could be student partners…next semester…sometimes?"

The next three seconds, of uncertainty and doubt, feel like the three longest seconds in her life.

Then she saw as Brock's face went from puzzled, to unbelievably eager.

_Great job, you did it!_ She relaxed herself. _But you do realize you are going to be studying with him next semester, right?_

-x-x-x-x-x-

There was a different air in Claire's first day of Sophomore year, and it wasn't just because, as she'd learn later, one the gastronomy school's classes had gone terribly wrong. Maybe it was not having to take the early bus like she did a year ago made her arrival at campus more comfortable than times previous. Maybe it was because her family had given her a break for once and was nice enough to let her be during her winter break. She felt no weight carried other than that of her suitcase.

Of course, that in no way meant she was happy to be here. College was college, with all the hardships, pressures and idiots to deal with that it implies, and now being in her second year, Claire knew all the effort she put last year would have to be increased. She was only glad that the only things bugging her were not carried over from her summer break but were only the things that waited to jump at her in the months to follow.

She knew where well to go this time around. She headed straight to the frat row, where she hoped for a nice enough reunion with her Eta sisters, whom she didn't know what to think of right now.

While in her way through, she spotted a group of new students in their tour through the campus.

And she knew who the guide was all too well.

Just as he said he would, there he was, that same overly enthusiastic purple-feathered monster guiding the eager group of new students across the installations of the campus.

She considered calling him for a moment, but the jock boy just seemed to be enjoying his thing too much for her to interrupt him.

If someone like him can make one's first day at college something to be excited for, then, she assumed, perhaps asking him to be study partners wasn't a mistake after all.

Or maybe she was making quick assumptions and she had just set herself for the most painful study sessions she will ever have.

Regardless of what was going to happen, she knew she wasn't bad enough to not hold her word true, for better or for worse.

-x-x-x-x-x-

She didn't tell her colleagues. With her reputation amongst them on the line since the last Scare Games, she avoided anything else that could make the rest of them put her in the infamy corner. The more she thought about it, the less she cared about what they thought, but more about how much more unbearable they could turn her life at college-more than it already was-, especially if the idea of kicking her out crossed their mind…she didn't even want to think about it. Specially with the first exam of the semester in two days.

Brock didn't question Claire's unusual choice for one of the most isolated spaces in the library as a study place. Perhaps it was the silence, he thought. Regardless, he found herself as committed to his exam preparation as Claire was.

Unknown to her, Claire was indeed knowing Brock better. Right then, she had learned three facts of him she never imagined: one, he could actually speak in a low voice; two, he did put a lot of thought in his studies; and three, he could roll his tongue in the shape of a taco, which she had secretly been wanting to since elementary.

"Anyway, so if you have a long tongue", Claire explained, "doing the _Rattle Snake_ can be effective if…?" She opened the question to see if what her partner could remember what they had just seen.

"One: the kid is afraid of reptiles; two: you look like an actual reply, _or", _Brock listed confidently, "you can imitate the shade of a reptile, which is not recommended and three: the lives in a desert area. Can't be in a jungle are because…?" Now he returned the questioning.

"Cause rattlesnakes don't live in jungles and the kid, who might not be too familiar with them, might only produce a 30% of the total scare that would otherwise produce in one living in the desert."

"Awright! That pretty much covers all of the first ten chapters of the book!"

"Ugh, freaking finally." She closed the book in front of her shut in satisfaction. "My head hurts and I don't know if it's because it got bigger or if it's melting."

"Well better let it cool off before it explodes! Can't let if mush before the day of the exam you know."

"Oh, it better not." _Still got to study with the girls tomorrow and I don't think my brain can handle a double doze._ When her tired arms began to pile up the books, Claire noticed the lack of outside light that tended to come from the roof window. "Uh, what time is it? Have we really been here for so long?" There was no clock in sight, but if light of natural illumination and the soreness in their body was any indicator, it was safe to assume the sun was already a goner.

"Well, seems like I got to go. I only have 15 minutes to come up with a bad excuse for not showing up in time at the house." The books piled up so high in front of her she literally couldn't see past them. "Hey, care to help me with the books?" She got no reply. "Uh, hello? Are you gonna give me a-", she peeked out from the pile to find her partner in the last way she imagined he'd find him.

Asleep.

With the forehead slammed on the edge of the table and his arms limping on his sides, Brock looked deep in slumber, a mere seconds after looking like he was still fresh from like lettuce. _Just when I started to wonder how was he able to keep his batteries running_.

Of all things, she recalled the eerily similar scenario that happened back in her first day when Brock had fallen asleep in the bus. One moment full of energy, the next plopped down like a ragdoll. Poor guy must definitely exhaust himself with all that spirit he tries to keep up every day.

She knew it was best to just wake him up and get done in there, but there was something that held her from doing so. Who didn't deserve a good rest after such a tiresome evening of study? Claire knew the feeling all too well and right now she wished nothing but a rest from this madness. Seeing Brock sleeping like a baby made her think that the large jock was getting some sort of well-earned reward. Against all she expected, he did a great job as study partner: she actually _learned _with him-and also about him. Perhaps letting him rest seemed like a fair thing to do. And besides, seeing him completely quiet for once instead of as a walking bullhorn made had a bit of a charm to it.

What did she think of it back at then at the bus?

_…oh, no no no! Not THAT!_

She shook her head before the annoyingly inevitable thought popped up again. _Better wake him up before I embarrass myself once again._

She approached her large partner. "Brock?" No reaction. She hoped nobody was seeing the embarrassing scene. "Hello!" She said a bit louder this time, but careful not to go beyond the strictly low level of noise of the library. Noting that calling wasn't going to wake up the sleepy jock, she shoved his shoulder. "Hey, birdbrain! Wake up!"

"Uh? Huh? Woah, we're covered up for the exam! AWE-" a panicked Claire had to force his beak shut, followed by a chorus of shushes all across the library.

"Oh…sorry." Brock apologized through whisper.

She sighed. "Be glad the librarian wasn't around." _I swear avoiding that woman can be more challenging than any of the Scare Games._

-x-x-x-x-x-

Finding the library suffocating enough already, she dared to find a more open spot: the soda fountain. Claire was confident enough that none of her fellow Etas would be around that time, specially being a place that none of them went regularly to.

To be honest with herself, she was finding Brock much better to study with than with her colleagues during their group study sessions. Often enough, things went tedious between all of them then no one was in a mood to keep up with all the reading and testing. Brock, on the other hand, was always in the mood for it, no matter what, and always made sure to not let Claire drop her notebook until she had the subject at hand clear in her mound, whether she liked it or not.

"Come on, you knew that one! Four second rule!"

"But I just don't get it, Brock. What difference does it make taking more than four seconds to open the dumb door?"

"Remember what the video explained: five seconds is all the kid needs to look at you and lose the impact of the scare!"

"But isn't the kid supposed to be sleeping still?"

"That's what is assumed most of the time. But think! If the kid is awakened by the screech of the door-"

"But what if the door doesn't make a screech?"

"You don't know, but that's a RNWT."

"RN…what?"

"Claaaire, Risk Not Worth Taking! We saw that on last week's lecture!"

"Ugh, I'm sorry. I think it's this sun that's getting to me." She wiped off the sweat of her concealed forehead before she grabbed the bottle of boot-flavored soft drink in front of her. "Hold on a sec." She chugged down a good half of the soda right away. Her thirst was clearly evident.

"Alright." She put down the bottle when she was done. "So where were we at? Four second ru-"

She hadn't finished her sentences when the loudest belch she let out the loudest burp she had ever heard coming out from her.

She hoped the sound went ignored by the people nearby, but the curious sights of the monsters around her made it clear she was more than being looked at. It only made it worse when she noticed Brock trying to contain a cackle.

"Eh…let's both pretend that didn't happen." She looked her sight in the notepad in her hand. "Ok, four sec-"

"Aw, come on. What was so bad about that? Every monster does it!"

"Not this monster." She pointed her thumb at herself. "I actually have a throat and if there's something I hate more than something come out of it and not the other way around is when people think it's amusing. Now, five second rule, shall we?"

She looked back down to her notes, but not a moment after, she looked at her beaked partner picking up his own drink and drink it all the way down to the bottom in an instant.

"What the-did you just did what I think you-"

Brock quietly smiled at her as he anticipated the imminent eructation.

"Uhh, real mature." She slapped her palm against her eyes.

But when the loud burp was to be heard instead there was…a squeal.

"Huh?" Claire looked at him and saw in his face a slightly embarrassed, but nonetheless kind, smile.

"Wait…did you really just-?". He nodded. "Is that how you-?". He nodded again. "But it sounds nothing like-". He shook his head this time.

_And now to add that to things I learned about Brock._ And accompanied by her thought was the silliest chuckle coming out of her. "Why did you do that?" She said half-snickering.

He shrugged. "I guess so we could be even. Besides", he spoke closer, "got a laugh out of you, didn't I?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean! You hardly ever laugh, Claire. And I don't mean your usual sarcastic tittering, I mean like an actual laughter _laughter_!"

"Well, yeah, but…" …b_ut what?_ She was cornered by her own words. _He just made me laugh. What of it?_

Unable to give a smart response, she took her eyes off him and back to her notes. "Ahem", she cleared her throat, "four second rule…"

"Please, tell me that was it."

"That's it!"

"Ah, sweet mercy!" Claire let her back drop against the tree behind. "Can't believe we spent the last hour just trying to summarize the last minutes of that monster's dreadful audio log. If veteran scarers are such an experts, why can't they share their knowledge without taking half an hour to do so?"

Sitting not far from her, Brock picked up the tape player from which he and his partner had been listening to. He had just giggled at her remark. She found that strange at first, the fact someone who didn't share her dry and cynical sense of humor, like say, her Eta sisters, could find amusement at what she said. Brock seemed way too nice to be doing it out of mockery, so he had to be genuinely finding it funny. Again, she found it weird at first. But by the time she began her second half of sophomore, she had grown used to it.

"I swear if I graduate, it won't be books I'll be penning, but flash cards or something."

Luckily this time it wasn't books they had to carry but a small bunch of tapes and a player they had to bring with them in that nice spring day. Once they grabbed the stuff, they headed back to where they had borrowed it.

"Hey, Claire, buddy I've been wondering." Brock didn't call her buddy too often, but apparently he was now starting to feel fond of her enough to do so. "The team doesn't play next week and I haven't signed up for any volunteer work this semester, and you mentioned you and the Etas don't have anything important until next month, so," he sounded very eager to say what he was about to "I wondered if you'd be free to maybe hang out off-campus this saturday! What do you say?"

"Hang out?" The question caught her bit off-guard. It was the first time Brock had invited her out and the fact he was doing it so casually was a bit of a surprise. "You mean, in Monstropolis? Hang out just the two of us?"

"Yeah! No college to think of that day, just hang out in the city doing stuff!"

"Well…" She had grown to like Brock, she had to admit, but just as a student partner. Now, to be around him doing something entirely different was a different story: she had never 'hanged out' with him ever. Now, unsure herself of how she'd feel about it, she couldn't think of a good answer. "Such as what?"

"You know, we can go bowling or maybe watch a movie, go skating…" He went on to listen a number of things Claire could just not see herself doing at all, especially since with him she was dead certain it'd give the impression they would be…she shuddered before she thought of the word, _dating_.

_Look, Brock, you're nice to study with and all, but to be honest, I don't think I'd stand a second of doing any of the things you say. I mean, do you even know that the things you're suggesting are the kind of thing monsters do when they are, you know, dating?! So, I'm sorry, but forget about it. You're fun to be around, Brock, but I don't think we should hang out together. That's all._

"Look, Brock…" Now it was just a matter of taking those same thought words out through her mouth. "…I'll tell you tomorrow, ok? I want to make sure of some things first."

"Oh, okay!" He seemed content enough with the answer. Claire wasn't so sure of what to make of her sudden cowardice, but perhaps now she'd have more time to think of a reason to not hang out with the kind-hearted jock.

"Again, it's no biggie. It's just that hanging out is the kind of things friends do, right? And since we're good buddies already I thought we could start doing buddy stuff!"

"Yeah, buddy stuff. It does sound nice, Brock, I'll let you know tomorrow…"

She wish she could beat herself up badly for what she had done. _You asked for it, Claire. The moment you invited him to study together, you asked for it._ She knew how much Brock hoped to find a friend in her. And just when she thought her worries at college couldn't worsen, she had to struggle with one of her worsts.

-x-x-x-x-x-

She didn't eat with her peers as often anymore, but it wasn't because she did not enjoy their company at all, even if the food at the cafeteria wasn't the most exciting. She certainly didn't as much as she used to, but having someone whom she could connect with was somewhat comforting.

Except in this occasion. Right now, Claire just wished she could excuse herself without drawing attention. She wasn't in the mood for socializing, but rather lie down like a corpse and figure out fruitlessly how to deal the issue with Brock.

Perhaps she was overthinking the problem? How difficult was it to tell him she didn't want to 'hang out' with him? Or better yet, why is it so hard to just go and hang out with him? What was she backing off from?

"Hey, anybody home?" Sonia shoved her from the shoulder. "Either you love the look of your food or you're not very hungry. Everything ok?"

"Huh? Oh-", she snapped back to there and then. "-naw, I'm fine." She fabricated her calm and cool tone of voice. "I guess I'm just not in a big mood for rotten carrots right now."

"Hey, if miss quiet isn't having her food, then I'll have them." Rhonda said rudely from the other side of the table.

She pushed her tray aside. "Here, tell miss gluttony she can help herself."

"Argh, girls!" Sonia whined. "Can't just get over your pity feud already?"

Rhonda just proceeded to grab the food and eat without saying a word. Same as Claire, only with no food in table. _Don't brag to me. She's the one who's still pissy about those stupid games._

Things between her and her peers started only went more awry as sophomore year went by. It was then when Claire began to see clearly which of her so called sisters were really fond of her and which clearly didn't. If she could choose not to be around those she couldn't stand, such as Rhonda, perhaps she would enjoy spending time with them more.

There really wasn't anyone she could have a genuinely good time anymore with it seemed, so all things considered, Claire felt like she was going back all the way to square one.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Later that day, only a 6 hours before Thursday was officially over, Claire was stuck sitting wait for the student ID renewal. She would be badly regretting leaving the matter for the last minute like all other monsters in wait if she wasn't already troubled with something else, namely the issue with the purple-feathered jock.

_So what the heck am I going to tell him?_

"Psst."

She heard from the seat on her left. The first thing she saw when she turned was that of a folded paper being handled to her. The monster who was giving it to her, adorning a goth-like look similar to that of the HSS girls-only more masculine-looking, did not look at her back, but it was clear he was trying to communicate with her.

Confused, but nonetheless curious, Claire picked the paper and opened. She had a feeling the guy wasn't going to leave her alone until she did anyway.

_'Hi'._ The note said.

_Hah, very funny, smartass_. She was about to tell him those very same words when she got another one.

_'Don't be mad. I just don't want to draw attention.'_

She could tell this was gonna be awkward.

_'I saw you at the cafeteria earlier. You looked sad. Are you ok? L'_

She grabbed one of her pens and wrote back something in it. _'None of your damn business.'_

She gave it to him, hoping he'd get the hint. Regardless, she got another, which for some reason decided to open anyways.

_'I know you. I saw you on the Scare Games last year. I thought you were neat. J'_

And then another one. Either it was her or this guy wrote impressively fast.

_'Heard you were given a lot of crap for that, though. That was pretty unfair.'_

She bothered to write back. _'What one gets for trying to fit in with a crowd.'_

_'I never bothered to fit in anywhere. Been doing well here at uni all by myself. Don't need no dumb frat to succeed here.'_

_'Well, aren't you lucky.'_

_'Not lucky. I get crap at home for that. But like I care. What are you majoring?'_

_'Scaring. You?' _Before she knew, Claire was having a conversation with the stranger next to her.

_'Scream can design.'_

_'What?! How can you endure that?'_

_'I just do. Doesn't matter to me. I mean, it's all about getting a title and getting hired to make money, right? What does matter what you major on?'_

She was genuinely impressed by seeing someone who had the same thoughts as her. _'Got that right.'_

_'Say, you like reading?'_

_'Depends on what.'_

_'Red Oozes, maybe?'_

_'You like it too?'_

_'Yup. Which has been your favorite part?'_

"Ninety four. Number ninety four." The girl at the booth called. At that moment, Claire's 'pen pal' stood up with a ticket with the number ninety four in it. Just how many students had come today just to renew their ID anyway?

Before he walked off, he looked at her briefly and left her one last note. _'Will tell you after your turn. Will be waiting outside the building. ;)'_

Just who was he and why did he found him so…intriguing all of a sudden?

Whatever the reason was, Claire felt the thought of it managed to drive away something that was bugging her shortly ago. She couldn't remember what was it, but whatever it was, she enjoyed not being bugged by it anymore and couldn't care less if she forgot about it forever.

-x-x-x-x-x-

That night she learned his name was Pete, his favorite part was part I and he enjoyed dodgeball at high school, just like her.

Just when she thought she could never meet anyone more similar to her than the Etas, this guy had to appear from nowhere. The more she thought about it, it was like staring at herself in the mirror, only that the reflection was that of a masculine figure.

When they parted off and Claire went back to the Eta house and dropped on her bed, she realized she liked him.

Two days later, they met again. They learned a bit more about one another; not only they they were similar in the things they liked, but also the things they didn't. Having someone to rant about everything during a whole afternoon was a first in all her life.

It was no secret to her house peers, who, like in anything involving her, reacted all in mixed ways: some were supportive, others indifferent and others not very approving, but she wasn't stopped from keep seeing her new partner.

Pete had no other known friends, but Claire thought it was all the better. She didn't want any other tag-along monsters while hanging out with him. She simply enjoyed his company, no one else's.

It took a few weeks for Claire to realize something that scared her to the inside of her bones: she was having a crush for him.

She dreaded the concept of having a crush during her entire teenage hood and now that she was starting to experience her made her feel as if the thoughts of romance would turn her entire body pink overnight. Plus, there was no way she was going to tell anyone. It was just so wrong. She was so wrong. But why did the thought of having another monster for a boyfriend felt so tempting all of a sudden?

During all this time, Claire had been getting a lot of calls and messages from an unknown number. She didn't bother replying to them.

The day of the second partial, Pete came to him and confessed something that nearly drove her to scream like one of the dummies of a scaring simulator: he had a crush on her too.

The impact of the revelation made her confess her own back to him. They almost immediately agreed to become a couple.

The week after, they were officially dating. It was nearly impossible for Claire to be at peace with the idea of actually be called someone's girlfriend-at least at first. Shortly after, she'd just tell anyone who criticized it to go screw themselves.

What if it went against all Claire had in mind about romantic relationships before and yet again made a full hypocrite out of her? She enjoyed his company and didn't care if they were seeing holding hands and having drinks together-no kisses, though. They agreed at how gross they were. And no pet names either. Those were gross too. They knew each other all too well. Having a relationship with the boundaries they agreed with all too well.

It was a great at idea at first, but then Claire felt as if the joy of it began to wear off. The fact that they knew each other too well, way too well, was perhaps the main reason. They spent their days doing and saying the same things over and over.

Around this time it was when Claire began to notice an annoying trait of Pete. While she showed her cynic tendencies and distaste for all things cheeky like a badge on her jacket, Pete tended to take it to extremes: he practically whined about everything. Hearing him do that every day grew irritating and made no effort to improve it. After all, he alleged, it's what they thought they shared in common.

Tired of the same thing every day, Claire thought, for once, they could try something different: a different place to hang out, a different topic to talk about, etc. But to no success: he simply rejected them and proceeded to whine like the energy of Monstropolis depended on it rather than on human screams.

Just a week before the end of year, Claire confronted him about his issues with him. If something didn't change between them, things were definitely not going to end pretty. Surprisingly, as if he understood, he confidently came to her one night, saying he wanted to improve their relationship. He'd comply with what Claire wanted from him.

Not without asking something in return, though. When she asked what it was, all he said was that it was time they took their relationship a step further.

Claire could tell right away what he meant. She simply said no. It was out of the question. She would not do it and specially not with a monster who, in retrospection, she hadn't even been with for too long. Claire tolerated many things, but on the bottom of her list of things she'd never approve of was promiscuity.

Yet he insisted, growing more and more impatient about it. Just as if he cared naught about the relationship at that point: he was determined in getting _that_ one thing out from her. Was this the monster Claire thought she identified with all this time? A selfish, promiscuous and whiny jerk?!

Claire wouldn't have it anymore. She said no, one last time, and walked away furious.

The next day, he left a message on her phone. Rather than having the guts to tell her right in front of her, he cowardly laid the message on written text. All it said was _'We're done'_.

She agreed, but did not reply. She had wasted all her time in him she thought he wasn't worth a single second more of it.

It was a hard-learned lesson, and she'd be feeling proud of herself…as soon as she was done feeling pathetic and stop crying.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"What's going on here?" She heard from the outside the bathroom's door.

"Claire. That's what's going on." Someone else said.

"Is she in there?"

"Yep, she has for an hour already."

"Is it because of-"

"Yep, because of him."

"Um, Claire?" She heard one of the voices come closer. "Can you come out, please? You're kinda making a buzz here."

"Please, go away." Claire said starkly as she kept starring into the mirror at her face full of ruined make up.

"Come on! You gotta move on, Claire. Forget that guy!"

"Yeah, girl, you're better than this."

"Ahh, let her cry out. She should have seen it coming anyway."

They started an argument outside regarding her situation. At least they weren't talking to her now. She was in no mood for people. All she wanted was to feel miserable alone. It was horrible, but it was better than feeling even more miserable around others.

She heard the rambling outside stop when someone knocked the door of the house.

"Who's that? We're all here already, aren't we?" She heard Susan say. No one other than them ever came to the HSS house, at least not without trying to sneak into it. Hearing someone knock the door was a strange occurrence.

Still locked in the bathroom, she heard them open the door.

"What the-you?" Susan said in a mixture of surprise and displease. "What do you want?"

"Is Claire here?" A voice she thought she had forgotten rung a bell in her memory.

"Claire? Why on earth do you want to see Claire? And what makes you think we'll let you se her?" She continued to defy the monster at the door.

"Is Claire her or not?!" He raised his voice with the anger evident in him. Claire could recognize already who that voice belonged to.

She stormed out of the bathroom and ran to the front door, making her way through her peers to stand right in front of the unwelcomed visitor.

"Brock?!"

The tall, purple-feathered monster looked straight at her when he heard his name called. Claire froze when he felt an intense anger in his glare. She didn't know what to make of it, the sight of his furious face blanked all of her thoughts. She simply stood there waiting for him to speak.

"Who did it?"

She shook herself off from her absence of mind. "…huh?"

"Who did it, Claire?!"

"What do you mean who did it?" She couldn't be any more confused, and the rest of the monsters present weren't any better, but part of her thought she know who he meant.

"Who did this to you?! Who was it?! Who did it, Claire?!" He continued with exasperation. The girls around the two backed off from as the large jock raised his tone of voice.

"Is he talking about Pete Ramirez?" Sonia asked to Claire. "Is this what this is all about?"

"Pete Ramirez, huh?" Brock looked pensive for a moment before turning away, even angrier than he was moments ago.

Something about this just felt horrible and Claire wasn't sure if she was going to let that be. "Wait, Brock! Where are you going?"

She caught her muttering before he began to walk down the doorstep. "Off to pay Ramirez a little visit…"

It took an instant for Claire to get the picture of the situation-or at least a close idea-and realized she definitely wasn't going to let this happen.

"No, wait! Brock!" She raced towards him and managed to step right in front of him. "Stop!" She yelled right at his face. The beaked monster stepped back and halted his way.

The Etas looked unpleasantly at the scene right in front of the house. The two monsters outside remained stiff in front of one another and exchanged stares that very well could kill.

Things changed when Claire relaxed her posture and sighed, averting Brock's eyes for a moment. "…can we talk?"

Brock's face went from angry to worried, and then to ashamed. He quietly nodded to her question.

Without saying a word , they walked off away from the house. The girls within it saw them go with a mixture of reactions on the situation.

"We'll discuss about this with her later." Rosie said. "For now, let's just let them go."

-x-x-x-x-x-

The cloudy sky's reflection in the river could be hardly seen that moment. All they saw as they looked down at it from the edge of the bridge was the underwater floor.

Claire had spent the last moments talking out what happened between her and Pete-whom during the discussion she often refused to even call by name. Halfway through her vent she managed to convince Brock not to think about going up to _him_ and harm him physically-although she couldn't deny how tempting the idea was-for his own sake.

It was strange having someone who would listen to her own issues with such an attention and genuine concern. Was this perhaps the same way he had felt back at the bus after their first semester?

_He said I was the first person he could ever talk his heart out too…well, I guess this just made us even._

Brock. She couldn't just figure him out. She had planned to turn her back on him and suddenly forgot about him entirely just to spend her time with a worthless guy in a fruitless relationship, yet after that he was more willing to put his entire place in college at risk and give 'that guy' a comeuppance, just for her. And even with his mind dead set on that goal, he willingly complied to her request not to do it, not as if he was blindly obeying her, but rather as if he understood what she was getting to.

She felt responsible for all this. After being so unfair to the friendly jock and wasting affection on someone who wasn't even half the nice guy that the purple-feathered monster, if anyone deserved to be beaten up, she thought, was her. All because she was too afraid of hanging out with him during a weekend.

"I realize I'm dumber than I ever thought I'd be." She said guiltily. "You've been nicer to me than everyone else who has been nice to me in my life put together, yet I kept treating you like a rag…I'm sorry I wasn't the friend you wanted me to be."

She was ready to leave him and walk back to the house when his large hand fell on her shoulder.

In a different time she'd have brushed him off, but instead, she let it happen and looked back at him.

"Claire, you've been more of a friend than anyone has ever been to me." He said solemnly, another new thing from him that she would have never imagined. "The fact alone that you've put up with my attitude for so long…well, it's quite an accomplishment, to put it bluntly."

It certainly wasn't easy being around someone being so loud, energetic and cheerful nearly all the time, but all this time she thought it was just her being impatient for that kind of people. Never would she imagine that there'd be people even further away in the scale of intolerance than her. Really, why didn't anyone appreciate the big guy for what he was?

She certainly was starting to do so.

"And while I did feel hurt during those weeks you forgot about me, you totally didn't deserve to be used by that guy. It comforted me to think that you may had found a better companionship, but when I heard the way he dumped you…I just wasn't going to let it just happen, you know."

Unfortunately, she had to admit she did enjoy the time she spent with Pete up until the day of the break-up. It was unfortunate that all those positive feelings she thought were was love were being dumped in such a selfish guy. She was now better off without him than having to surrender her own will and comply with his egotistical needs just to stick around with him longer.

Unlike a certain jock, who asked little to nothing in return, only someone to stay around with him.

"And just now, the fact that you tried to stop me from sending that idiot to the hospital just so I didn't end up expelled, or even worse…I think you're a better friend than what you think you are."

_Was that really how that happened?_

Why else would she want to stop him from doing something she might at some point thought of doing herself? Why would she try to prevent Brock, the sweet and friendly, to give a selfish jerk what he deserved?

Simply, because Brock was too much of a good person to deserve all that would have come after: a suspension, an expulsion, maybe even a lawsuit from whatever family that prick came from, the disappointment from his supportive parents and probably many other things she couldn't think about. Brock didn't deserve to have any of that. Just imagining what could have happened to him...she couldn't think of a word for it that made exact justice, but she did not want to see it happen.

So there had to be no other reason.

_Kudos, Claire. You really do worry about him…_

At that moment Brock gently pulled his hand off from Claire.

"You know, last year, when you asked me why I liked you, there was something I didn't tell you."

"…and what is that?"

"Well", he felt uneasy about what he was going to say, but caught courage and went on with it, "back at then…you seemed to be so lonely, so I thought you needed a friend…and, to be honest, I was feeling a bit lonely too, so I thought maybe I could be that friend."

If this what being touched-_in the affectionate sense, of course-_was something like, then Claire had probably been delivered a knockout punch.

There was no way she was going let things get screwed again. It was time to start this a step in the right direction.

"Will you give me another chance", Claire raised her hand to him, "_buddy_?" The sound of that word coming from her voice sounded so unnatural, but it delivered her point across.

It only took a second for Brock's face to illuminate and return to its familiar bright-smiling form.

"Of course, buddy!"

He shook her hand enthusiastically-perhaps a bit too much, if Claire's grunts of pain were any indicator.

"Sorry!" He smiled nervously as he let go her hand.

"Yeah. We're gonna have to work on that." Claire smirked, not letting the little occurrence ruin the moment. "Ow."

"Just one thing, tho."

"Um, ok?"

"You don't have to call _me _buddy. Doesn't really sound good coming from you!"

"Oh, thank you!" She was relieved. "I don't think I can hear myself saying that again."

"And you won't have to, Claire buddy!"

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

Author's notes:

First of all, I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. Unfortunately, my ammount of spare time for the summer is running out as my actual third year of college begins in August. I don't want to make promises, nor I want to dishearten any of you, so all I'll say is that I'll try to keep thinking about the next chapters of the story, which won't be too much as to not drag this to innecessary lengths, so I can work on them when I get the chances.

I'm happy you're enjoying the story and I hope not to disappoint any of you in future updates!


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